@arkansan123 coal mineing is ahard job but it is a bad job ive be in mud up to my knees ive see man get crushed by rocks you have no right to talk shit little boy
The Coalminer, the Deep Six Oil driller, the Mom and Pop Farmers and honest Store keepers still scrambling to make a decent living all cry out for the applause of us all. Their sweat, their broken backs and stretched muscles are the Sacrifice upon which the rest of us depend. I'm proud today to stand up and stand for the rights of these tireless Workers. Karma and God will sort out the rest.
lumber, deep sea fishing, steel working, and many others are hard working jobs. Coal miners are not anymore special than any of these hard working Americans. The coal industry dose not deserve any respect at all. Look at what the industry is doing to the Appalachian Mountains. Destroying the lives of people that live in those hills and the all around natural world. The idea that i should honor that is disgusting.
My husband is a coal miner (he roof bolts) and i want to tell all of you coal miners that if you have a mrs at home she is probably the person who is most proud of you and supportive of you! You have a hard job and if noone wants to tell you that they are proud of you I will!
I don't believe coalmining is the only really hardworking job, but hard as hell it is, I can say that coalmining is nothing for the nowaday kids. A really beautiful song, even for a woodsman.
I AM AN EASTERN KY COALMINER, I RUN A ROOFBOLTER 10 HRS A DAY 14 CUTS A SHIFT!! IVE BEEN COVERED UP TWICE ! IVE SEEN THINGS ONLY ME N THEM BOYS SEEN !! IF YOU THINK YOU CAN BE A COALMINER GO GET YOUR CARD N COME ON DOWN!! ROOFBOLTER1972
My Grandfather hand dug coal and sold it 12cents a ton back around 1940's. Along about that time the United Mine Workers came into power. He gave them 4cents a ton or esle they would blow up your house and family. Here in Jellico, Tn. they blew up a coal temple edge of town killing 1 man passing by w/ horse drawn wagon in the 40's. My father- John G. O'Hara (attny) represented UMW for a while. He was out drinking w/ frnds when a hit man came to kill one of his frnds. He got out. John Lewis Turn
did it for 3 months, work on railroad now, coal miners may be only fellows that got it worse than us, worst part, can't get the dust off, soaks into your pores, wash up, and in a half hour, seaps out of your skin pores , and looks like you never even cleaned up, hard workin' fellows tho
My dad worked the cold mines in northwest Alabama. You gotta be brave to go down in those mines and work an 8 hour shift. He also went down into a 92 foot deep well on a bucket with a friend holding the rope. He dipped the mud into the bucket and his friend pulled the bucket up and dumped it out. That left him down at the bottom of the well without anything. You really got to trust that friend.I asked him why he did all this and he said ," for my family"
lord this brings back so many memories worked the mines for a while as a youngster lost two unkles to mineing .i believe all tha men in the family worked there at the same time they had it rough in those days this was in ohio in the late 40,s and fifty,s
true coal miners think of everyone but themselves when going below. we're not there for fun, but for family. when i say we, been doing it 20 years. Love it, family loves me for doing it. Let's all be proud of being the baddest of the human race, {COAL MINERS}
I have 3 girls we live in West Virginia there prayer Every night Dear Lord we love you and we thank-you for our daddy,please God bring him back home tommrow morning.
love the song, My daughter and I are doing a little video on coal mining in Osage County, Kansas. Just a local thing. I'd sure appreciate it if I could use a little bit of the song in this video.
My grandfather went to work in the coal mines in Indiana when he was 13, opening the door for mules. He moved to West Virginia in the early 20s and then to Shamokin, PA and then to Nanticoke. He worked 48 years underground, retiring in 1959 after the Susquehanna flooded the Northern Field.
@filthyphillyboy Yes, exactly. I remember watching it on TV. They were pushing old railroad freight cars into the whirlpool in the river trying to plug it up. There's an awesome song about it "Last Day of the Northern Field" by the Donegal Weavers. I think they're from Nanticoke, PA. It's written by one R. Stephens and is also known as "The Ballad of Myron Thomas". It's the story of a miner trapped in the flooded mine.
[A] @6907lankershim You are familiar with what happened but for any readers out there, they were mining a very rich anthracite vein under the Susquehanna river which punched through the mine's roof. 12 drowned immediately. The interconnectedness of the tunnels under Scranton/ Wilkes Barre caused ALL the mines to flood! A sweetheart deal between union bosses & company. They flirted w/disaster, mining too close to the river, ignoring laws which were in place to prevent such a thing. [CON'T]
[B] The other men ran for hours down abandoned tunnels, lost, instinctively trying to increase their elevation. At an air shaft an old Italian miner climbed 50 feet straight up the cliff like surface of the shaft & got surface rescuers to pull the rest of the men out. What a sick deal.
@6907lankershim My Dad and both of my grandfathers worked mines in Southern West Virginia. My Dad lost 3 fingers on his left hand while working a second shift. He said he never drew a sober breath in the next year after that.
These Men in Appalachia work so hard with so little pay. Many lost their lives working the mines just to feed their families. They are to be respected and remembered for all their hard work. God Bless each and everyone of you.
My family lived and worked the mines in Harlan County Kentucky....My uncle took me to the mines.....we stopped to chew on some beechnut....He took me fishing in the Cumberland River and we sat on a big old rock and broke crawdads to fish with. He would come home from work 6 feet tall and with his face as dark as night , his eyes were white as the clouds and a smile I will never forget.
Thank you for this. My Grandpa was a coal miner in Wales, working the mines since he was a child; He died from 'Black Lung' when I was very young. He never complained and he always provided for us to the best of his ability. The mines sucked the life out of him, and I miss him still...these words may help to immortalize him and those like him-God Bless.
I connect emotionally much more with "Did You Understand". The question seemed to be asked in a sincere manner as though it was being asked to truly gain an answer as opposed to being an angry rant. I found poignant the observation that the facility where men had once showered after a hard days work was now the location of a supermarket. Not that that's wrong. It's just an example of how life moves on. Alex is appreciated as an artist. The register of his voice, however, is not my preference.
I appreciate your question GoweExile. For me, as a songwriter, commenting on a song,may damage the song for the listener. What the writer of the song "meant" is far less important than what he listener infers from the song. One of the strengths of the popular song form is it's brevity. A phrase or even a word can mean something more profound to a listener than the writer intended; and that's a good thing. Could be why Bob Dylan never explained his work. I enjoyed both songs you referenced.
Great song. However I'd be interested in your opinions on a couple of songs from the British Folk Tradition relating to Mining simply to get the opinions of people from another musical tradition.
Jim, thank you again for sharing your most wonderful skills. The lyrics, your voice, the emotions and carefully selected historical pictures make this a breathtaking song.
I am so very fortunate to have such a gifted friend. John C.
Fantastic, breath taking, one of the best blues compositions and performances I have heard in my lifetime and I have been in the music business for over 40 years! I am sharing this video with my world, friends, and contacts in the coal mines and elsewhere. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this. I'm nearly in tears. Hasn't happened all that often. Wow!
@wvufanngarner those who disrespect miners r low lifes those miners gave there lives so we can have heat power for our homes n warm meals n people treated them like dirt my grandfather also worked in the mines sadly he died of cancer in his lungs due to minning R.I.P
@TheCowboyfan67 couldn't agree more man, mining is in the blood of all Appalachian folk, whether they work in the man made hell or work jobs that support them. My grand-Dad worked in Boomer-Montgomery area nearly all his life till our family lost him to black lung disease in 1980. I followed his foot steps into southern West Virginia's coal 14 years later. They were good enough to allow me a chance to go to college at WV Tech and get a degree i would never have been able to achieve otherwise.
@wvufanngarner did u hear wat obama said about coal minning hes putting an end to it i have west virginian blood n aperently he thinks coal minning is point less. he should just do as a poster says "dont support coal minning, turn ur lights off."
@TheCowboyfan67 yeah, I heard that. But he promised to make coal mining so expensive that it couldn't be profitable for a company in his campaign promises too. Of course he promised a lot of crap that has never came to pass. Like getting our people back to work but has done nothing but run more folks out of work. With what happened in Japan recently nuke power is off the table so they have to keep the lights on some way. And they cant make steel with plutonium so he knows his time is limited.
@TheCowboyfan67 He's a one termer, and will go down as one of the worst president ever.
He cant take credit for the killing of Osama Bin Laden cause it was in the works long before he won.
I tell you brother, anyone that voted for him and isn't working should have their ass kicked if they even gripe about it a little bit. As the saying goes...You get what you pay for. I'm not saying he shouldn't be president for being black but that's what he ran on and I'm sorry I live in this time.
@TheCowboyfan67 when the lights go off in the white house and he sees us good ol country west virginia miners walk in he will put together all the peices
My dad started in the mines at 9 yrs old & worked until he was 78 yrs young. He died at 81 years of age. He and my mom had 12 children and raised us all very well. We didn't have much, but we were rich love. He died of a heart attack, not to do with the mines, the doc said he was just tired, his heart was worn out. I miss my daddy very much and my mom. Love you so much daddy & mommie, you were our lives...R.I.P. Raymond & Hyla Perdue
My Grandfather was a coal miner in Ethel, WV. My great uncle, Earl Gearhart, died in the McBeth Mine in 1937 in Logan County, WV. Both men fought for the United Mine Workers Union in the mine war of 1921... fourteen years later after the election of FDR was the UMWA recgonized and life changed for the better for the coal miner!!!
My grandad worked in mingo county mines, and great-grandfather. They'd hate what the country has become in so many ways. the media will someday pay for its years of portrayal of the appalachian land and people. thanks for upload
Imagine having to do that all day way back when and only getting payed 40.00 a week or less.It is hard work and dangerous my husband is coal miner here in shamokin, PA he use to work underground now works above ground. But there is still some of his friends that work underground. Some people wouldn't know what hard work is!
@arkansan123 coal mineing is ahard job but it is a bad job ive be in mud up to my knees ive see man get crushed by rocks you have no right to talk shit little boy
RaveVpuppy13 3 days ago
The Coalminer, the Deep Six Oil driller, the Mom and Pop Farmers and honest Store keepers still scrambling to make a decent living all cry out for the applause of us all. Their sweat, their broken backs and stretched muscles are the Sacrifice upon which the rest of us depend. I'm proud today to stand up and stand for the rights of these tireless Workers. Karma and God will sort out the rest.
jeff62rey 6 days ago
lumber, deep sea fishing, steel working, and many others are hard working jobs. Coal miners are not anymore special than any of these hard working Americans. The coal industry dose not deserve any respect at all. Look at what the industry is doing to the Appalachian Mountains. Destroying the lives of people that live in those hills and the all around natural world. The idea that i should honor that is disgusting.
arkansan123 1 week ago
My husband is a coal miner (he roof bolts) and i want to tell all of you coal miners that if you have a mrs at home she is probably the person who is most proud of you and supportive of you! You have a hard job and if noone wants to tell you that they are proud of you I will!
mrstaylor121109 2 weeks ago
I don't believe coalmining is the only really hardworking job, but hard as hell it is, I can say that coalmining is nothing for the nowaday kids. A really beautiful song, even for a woodsman.
Sourstream 1 month ago
every day you risk your life . somebody should tell somebody that roof bolts don't hold the roof up only together.
fllrovcm 1 month ago
Nice song, good job
wildbillhurley 1 month ago
same here im a coal miner myself, id love to see some oome of these what they call "hard workers" do our job, they cant handle it..mans job
chrislynsdaddy 2 months ago
I AM AN EASTERN KY COALMINER, I RUN A ROOFBOLTER 10 HRS A DAY 14 CUTS A SHIFT!! IVE BEEN COVERED UP TWICE ! IVE SEEN THINGS ONLY ME N THEM BOYS SEEN !! IF YOU THINK YOU CAN BE A COALMINER GO GET YOUR CARD N COME ON DOWN!! ROOFBOLTER1972
kx108 2 months ago 4
My Grandfather hand dug coal and sold it 12cents a ton back around 1940's. Along about that time the United Mine Workers came into power. He gave them 4cents a ton or esle they would blow up your house and family. Here in Jellico, Tn. they blew up a coal temple edge of town killing 1 man passing by w/ horse drawn wagon in the 40's. My father- John G. O'Hara (attny) represented UMW for a while. He was out drinking w/ frnds when a hit man came to kill one of his frnds. He got out. John Lewis Turn
grady1610 3 months ago
did it for 3 months, work on railroad now, coal miners may be only fellows that got it worse than us, worst part, can't get the dust off, soaks into your pores, wash up, and in a half hour, seaps out of your skin pores , and looks like you never even cleaned up, hard workin' fellows tho
knoxcountykyman1 3 months ago
SEARCH JOHNNY CASH LADY GAGA FOR A NEW TRIBUTE TO THE MAN IN BLACK thanx folks!
kingvscash 3 months ago
My dad worked the cold mines in northwest Alabama. You gotta be brave to go down in those mines and work an 8 hour shift. He also went down into a 92 foot deep well on a bucket with a friend holding the rope. He dipped the mud into the bucket and his friend pulled the bucket up and dumped it out. That left him down at the bottom of the well without anything. You really got to trust that friend.I asked him why he did all this and he said ," for my family"
AshleyNHayes1 3 months ago
lord this brings back so many memories worked the mines for a while as a youngster lost two unkles to mineing .i believe all tha men in the family worked there at the same time they had it rough in those days this was in ohio in the late 40,s and fifty,s
tyndaltech1 3 months ago
WOW
Mudcon 3 months ago
true coal miners think of everyone but themselves when going below. we're not there for fun, but for family. when i say we, been doing it 20 years. Love it, family loves me for doing it. Let's all be proud of being the baddest of the human race, {COAL MINERS}
coal4life1 4 months ago
I have 3 girls we live in West Virginia there prayer Every night Dear Lord we love you and we thank-you for our daddy,please God bring him back home tommrow morning.
TheFirestorm304 4 months ago
love the song, My daughter and I are doing a little video on coal mining in Osage County, Kansas. Just a local thing. I'd sure appreciate it if I could use a little bit of the song in this video.
Sincerely,
Rick
barbershop22 4 months ago
My grandfather went to work in the coal mines in Indiana when he was 13, opening the door for mules. He moved to West Virginia in the early 20s and then to Shamokin, PA and then to Nanticoke. He worked 48 years underground, retiring in 1959 after the Susquehanna flooded the Northern Field.
6907lankershim 4 months ago
@6907lankershim "after the Susquehanna flooded the Northern Field."
You're talking about the Knox mine Disaster, right? What a tragedy.
filthyphillyboy 4 months ago
@filthyphillyboy Yes, exactly. I remember watching it on TV. They were pushing old railroad freight cars into the whirlpool in the river trying to plug it up. There's an awesome song about it "Last Day of the Northern Field" by the Donegal Weavers. I think they're from Nanticoke, PA. It's written by one R. Stephens and is also known as "The Ballad of Myron Thomas". It's the story of a miner trapped in the flooded mine.
6907lankershim 4 months ago
[A] @6907lankershim You are familiar with what happened but for any readers out there, they were mining a very rich anthracite vein under the Susquehanna river which punched through the mine's roof. 12 drowned immediately. The interconnectedness of the tunnels under Scranton/ Wilkes Barre caused ALL the mines to flood! A sweetheart deal between union bosses & company. They flirted w/disaster, mining too close to the river, ignoring laws which were in place to prevent such a thing. [CON'T]
filthyphillyboy 4 months ago
[B] The other men ran for hours down abandoned tunnels, lost, instinctively trying to increase their elevation. At an air shaft an old Italian miner climbed 50 feet straight up the cliff like surface of the shaft & got surface rescuers to pull the rest of the men out. What a sick deal.
filthyphillyboy 4 months ago
@6907lankershim My Dad and both of my grandfathers worked mines in Southern West Virginia. My Dad lost 3 fingers on his left hand while working a second shift. He said he never drew a sober breath in the next year after that.
sophiawv1923 4 months ago
These Men in Appalachia work so hard with so little pay. Many lost their lives working the mines just to feed their families. They are to be respected and remembered for all their hard work. God Bless each and everyone of you.
50peacegirl 4 months ago
My family lived and worked the mines in Harlan County Kentucky....My uncle took me to the mines.....we stopped to chew on some beechnut....He took me fishing in the Cumberland River and we sat on a big old rock and broke crawdads to fish with. He would come home from work 6 feet tall and with his face as dark as night , his eyes were white as the clouds and a smile I will never forget.
.How I miss that man.
marshahunt 4 months ago
Painfully poignant...makes me want to cry...
SKS2011SC 4 months ago
And people whine about not having cable.
bashfulbrother 4 months ago
My great great grandpa owned the coal mine Loretta Lynn 'Webb" 's dad worked in and he owned more all together he owned 50 coal mines
stonemasseymohler 4 months ago
love this song, but i'm from virginia :)
medicann90 4 months ago
Comment removed
HannahVampire 4 months ago
Thank you for this. My Grandpa was a coal miner in Wales, working the mines since he was a child; He died from 'Black Lung' when I was very young. He never complained and he always provided for us to the best of his ability. The mines sucked the life out of him, and I miss him still...these words may help to immortalize him and those like him-God Bless.
DrBobDeYoung 4 months ago
I connect emotionally much more with "Did You Understand". The question seemed to be asked in a sincere manner as though it was being asked to truly gain an answer as opposed to being an angry rant. I found poignant the observation that the facility where men had once showered after a hard days work was now the location of a supermarket. Not that that's wrong. It's just an example of how life moves on. Alex is appreciated as an artist. The register of his voice, however, is not my preference.
32bars 5 months ago
32bars
It's not so much the lyrics but rather your view the emotional effect I was more interested in.
GoweExile 5 months ago in playlist GoweExile's Favourited Videos
I appreciate your question GoweExile. For me, as a songwriter, commenting on a song,may damage the song for the listener. What the writer of the song "meant" is far less important than what he listener infers from the song. One of the strengths of the popular song form is it's brevity. A phrase or even a word can mean something more profound to a listener than the writer intended; and that's a good thing. Could be why Bob Dylan never explained his work. I enjoyed both songs you referenced.
32bars 5 months ago
I've just shared this on facebook for the 4 miners who died at the welsh Gleision mine at Cilybebyll
Gayle01 5 months ago in playlist j-bugs
Great song. However I'd be interested in your opinions on a couple of songs from the British Folk Tradition relating to Mining simply to get the opinions of people from another musical tradition.
Max Boyce - Did you understand
Alex Glasgow - Close the Coalhouse Door
GoweExile 5 months ago in playlist GoweExile's Favourited Videos
great song from a washington county PA miner
babieboo2010 5 months ago
I like this. It's great. I can't wait to become a coal miner
ImAnotherLoneWolf 5 months ago
Jim, thank you again for sharing your most wonderful skills. The lyrics, your voice, the emotions and carefully selected historical pictures make this a breathtaking song.
I am so very fortunate to have such a gifted friend. John C.
clevengermeister 5 months ago
Fantastic, breath taking, one of the best blues compositions and performances I have heard in my lifetime and I have been in the music business for over 40 years! I am sharing this video with my world, friends, and contacts in the coal mines and elsewhere. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this. I'm nearly in tears. Hasn't happened all that often. Wow!
ClarenceYoung 6 months ago
My uncle raised me, - began working in the coal mines when he was 12 years old, so the kids' pics got to me. Thanks, great video
NLisi55 6 months ago
FROM PA...ECKLEY.ONE PROUD GRANDSON OF A MINER!!!!!
whokeithmoon 7 months ago
cumberlaind mountains in ky u can see a mine exactly like they left it
brabbit41014 7 months ago
My Family is from Kentucky and the mines.. How do i find out what mine they worked?
1987bmansfield 8 months ago
proud family tradition. proud men, all of them. proud to be a miner
wvufanngarner 8 months ago
@wvufanngarner those who disrespect miners r low lifes those miners gave there lives so we can have heat power for our homes n warm meals n people treated them like dirt my grandfather also worked in the mines sadly he died of cancer in his lungs due to minning R.I.P
TheCowboyfan67 8 months ago
@TheCowboyfan67 couldn't agree more man, mining is in the blood of all Appalachian folk, whether they work in the man made hell or work jobs that support them. My grand-Dad worked in Boomer-Montgomery area nearly all his life till our family lost him to black lung disease in 1980. I followed his foot steps into southern West Virginia's coal 14 years later. They were good enough to allow me a chance to go to college at WV Tech and get a degree i would never have been able to achieve otherwise.
wvufanngarner 8 months ago
@wvufanngarner did u hear wat obama said about coal minning hes putting an end to it i have west virginian blood n aperently he thinks coal minning is point less. he should just do as a poster says "dont support coal minning, turn ur lights off."
TheCowboyfan67 8 months ago
@TheCowboyfan67 yeah, I heard that. But he promised to make coal mining so expensive that it couldn't be profitable for a company in his campaign promises too. Of course he promised a lot of crap that has never came to pass. Like getting our people back to work but has done nothing but run more folks out of work. With what happened in Japan recently nuke power is off the table so they have to keep the lights on some way. And they cant make steel with plutonium so he knows his time is limited.
wvufanngarner 8 months ago
Comment removed
wvufanngarner 8 months ago
@wvufanngarner the only good thing hes done absolotuly nothing :P he promised in 2009 that he would bring
troops home he doubled troop presence in iraq.
TheCowboyfan67 8 months ago
@wvufanngarner oh n btw im might become a miner someday i have a place in west virginia n ill make sure ill
wear the # 29 sticker on my helmet :)
TheCowboyfan67 8 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@TheCowboyfan67 He's a one termer, and will go down as one of the worst president ever.
He cant take credit for the killing of Osama Bin Laden cause it was in the works long before he won.
I tell you brother, anyone that voted for him and isn't working should have their ass kicked if they even gripe about it a little bit. As the saying goes...You get what you pay for. I'm not saying he shouldn't be president for being black but that's what he ran on and I'm sorry I live in this time.
wvufanngarner 8 months ago
@TheCowboyfan67 when the lights go off in the white house and he sees us good ol country west virginia miners walk in he will put together all the peices
501video501 6 months ago
My dad started in the mines at 9 yrs old & worked until he was 78 yrs young. He died at 81 years of age. He and my mom had 12 children and raised us all very well. We didn't have much, but we were rich love. He died of a heart attack, not to do with the mines, the doc said he was just tired, his heart was worn out. I miss my daddy very much and my mom. Love you so much daddy & mommie, you were our lives...R.I.P. Raymond & Hyla Perdue
darlene105859 8 months ago
My Grandfather was a coal miner in Ethel, WV. My great uncle, Earl Gearhart, died in the McBeth Mine in 1937 in Logan County, WV. Both men fought for the United Mine Workers Union in the mine war of 1921... fourteen years later after the election of FDR was the UMWA recgonized and life changed for the better for the coal miner!!!
hoffa437 8 months ago
My grandad worked in mingo county mines, and great-grandfather. They'd hate what the country has become in so many ways. the media will someday pay for its years of portrayal of the appalachian land and people. thanks for upload
westchesterny 8 months ago
my daddy worked for Peabody at mine 31 I was born in Brittains Creek . Very proud to be a miners son .Isure miss him God Bless. Rusty
79797937 9 months ago
great!!!
lvbvalentine 9 months ago
i have a lot of respect for miners any of them
tanner6470 10 months ago
Those men loved it then same as we love it now it's good way of life
colnan1 11 months ago
You got that right!
32bars 1 year ago
Imagine having to do that all day way back when and only getting payed 40.00 a week or less.It is hard work and dangerous my husband is coal miner here in shamokin, PA he use to work underground now works above ground. But there is still some of his friends that work underground. Some people wouldn't know what hard work is!
cherylroy04 1 year ago
This is Beautiful !!!
Bravo!
edj403 1 year ago
This is Beautiful !!!
edj403 1 year ago
Excellent!
385Doc 1 year ago 2
Credits:
Lead guitar: Steve Walters
Fiddle: Richard Chon
Harp: Harpin' Johnny
Rhythm guitar: JJ Lee
Music Producer: Ken Kraft
Video Producer: Mark Thornton
32bars 1 year ago
Spot on once again ! Great job.
kathrynjames 1 year ago 2
Song tells an accurate story. Graphics great!
Dodger1940 1 year ago 2